Ann Hamilton’s Air for Everyone (2012- ) @ Echigo-Tsumari Art Field (Echigo-Tanaka): The artist makes the house breathe. Of the many conditions of life the artist gives expression, I am impressed the most by the way air is simultaneously a bagful (at rest), drawn through bellows (as music), conveyed and connected by open windows (as wind), trailed from wall to wall (as imaginary & broken music), sculpted into a single long chime (as instrument)….all of which coming into awaking a dwelling. One sees here and hears there; one is here and is there. Modes of embodiment keep gently shifting. In the middle of the house, one pulls a string hanging from the ceiling to make a bellow swell; at the gesture of release, the bellow seems to let out an elongated sigh. I imagine how this might come close to being inside the belly of an ancient tree: whereas from the outside, it inspires awe, from the inside, it imparts safety, warmth, and an understated marvel. (Yang Yeung)